The invention relates to vacuum cleaners. More particularly, the invention relates to air filter bags and an attachment assembly for vacuum cleaners.
Upright vacuum cleaners are well known in the art. The two major types of traditional vacuum cleaners are a soft bag vacuum cleaner and a hard shell vacuum cleaner. In the hard shell vacuum cleaner, a source of suction generates the suction required to pull dirt from a carpet or floor surface being vacuumed through a suction opening and into a filter bag or other dust or particle separation device like a dust cup housed within the hard shell upper portion of the vacuum cleaner.
Typical vacuum cleaner filter bags have been provided with numerous attachment mechanisms or collar configurations for interfitting with inlet ducts carrying dirt laden air into the bags. These collars have been formed of materials such as cardboard, rubber, leather, plastic and combinations of some of these materials. To successfully function, a bag collar should be properly positioned and retained in position relative to an air inlet duct, and the bag collar should have an air seal established between itself and the inlet duct so as to inhibit dirt laden air from bypassing the filter bag. For example, a plastic collar may be fabricated with sealing lips adjacent to an aperture in the collar for sealing with the outer periphery of a circular air duct. Retention of the collar on the duct is accomplished by the frictional engagement of the collar and duct with a rib or stop on the duct to inhibit slippage of the collar from the duct.
Existing dirt collection bags, including various types of collars, are aligned with the dirt tube by sight and the collar of the bag is pressed onto the dirt tube. In an attempt to provide an easier to achieve seal between the bags to the dirt tube, mounting fixtures or docking mechanisms were developed. It is known to have a baseplate sewn or otherwise permanently attached to a rear interior surface of a vacuum bag cover. Such a cover can have an offset opening for the receipt of an end section or extension of the dirt tube. The aforementioned approaches to handling the docking of a dirt collection bag to a dirt tube of a dirty air vacuum cleaner requires the user to mechanically attach at least one of the bag and bag docking carrier by use of force from the user. Dependent upon the discretion and strength of the user this docking can vary and result in the faulty sealing of the bag to the dirt tube. If this happens dirt blows out from the tube and does not travel directly into the collection bag. Such improper bag installation results in the scattering of the dirt and dust picked up by the vacuum cleaner throughout the filter or bag housing or expelling the dirt and dust with the air blown from the vacuum cleaner back into the room to be cleaned.